


Fairer Weather Four, Or, A Much-Deserved Vacation

by OGMadster



Series: A Warrior of Light and his Loves: Kisstober 2020 Collection [13]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Body Worship, Fluff, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Hot Springs & Onsen, Implied/Referenced Amputation, M/M, Multi, Obligatory Hot Springs Episode, Scars, Shameless Smut, Vacation, WoLhaurchestimeric, haurchestimeric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28396914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OGMadster/pseuds/OGMadster
Summary: Kyler thinks it's about time he took his loves on a vacation, and he knowsexactlywhere to take them. After all, there's nothing better than a nice, relaxing trip to a hot springs! But he'd like it to be a surprise...
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood, Aymeric de Borel/Haurchefant Greystone, Haurchefant Greystone/Estinien Wyrmblood, Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)/Aymeric de Borel, Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)/Estinien Wyrmblood, Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)/Haurchefant Greystone
Series: A Warrior of Light and his Loves: Kisstober 2020 Collection [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076024
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. An Idea

**Author's Note:**

> Please note different chapters & scenes have different ratings, but I defaulted to the most extreme of the content for safety.

It was one of those rare days where the four of them stole an hour or two together all in each others’ company: Aymeric had taken advantage of a gap in his schedule between his many duties, Estinien had come back from whatever his latest project was once alerted, and Haure and Kyler had been savoring an otherwise-empty House Fortemps (excepting the staff, who were all well and wise to all four of their nonsense by now). Haurchefant had shouldered the dining room door open bearing a tray piled precariously high with sandwiches, beaming, so openly delighted to be able to host all three of his lovers for a lunch with no interruptions, no distractions. It made Kyler love him all the more. It also gave Kyler and Estinien the golden opportunity to heckle Aymeric when he sprung to his feet on the pretense of helping, since when anyone tried to do the same for him under similar circumstances they were soundly denied.

With some gentle insisting, Aymeric and Estinien were both convinced to talk about some of their work, though they would much rather hear about other matters - Aymeric discussing the pitfalls and successes of the latest joint session of the Houses of Lords and Commons, and Estinien owning that he had been pushing further and further afield, to the point that he had ventured to the furthest corners of Dravania. What he did say was that he was seeking himself, now that Ishgard had no need of an Azure Dragoon; what he left unsaid but that Kyler sorely suspected anyway was that he also craved anonymity. To go where he wasn’t instantly recognized, where the legacy of who and what he was was not at the forefront. He was grateful Estinien could be convinced to return at all.

“And what of you, Kyler?” asked Aymeric, sipping his tea and looking through his really inexcusably long eyelashes at him. 

“Hm?” Kyler came back to himself, blinking.

Aymeric’s mouth twisted, suppressing a chuckle. “I was going to ask if you’d had any adventures of late, though it looks like you were far away for a moment.”

“We told you it was boring,” Estinien arced an eyebrow at him, though he was smirking. 

Kyler kicked him under the table, little more than a tap, and in retaliation he locked his ankles over his, capturing his foot. Kyler laughed in spite of himself. It wasn’t the first time they’d done something like this, often while trying to keep their upper bodies perfectly still, concealing their foolish, though fun, games. “I was listening,” he insisted. “And focused on it. I have been taking Haure’s advice and resting while I have the chance.”

“Don’t get soft,” Estinien said, but slipped him a wink. He still hadn’t released his foot. Kyler didn’t try to get it back.

“Should you like to ensure I stay fit I’d be happy to knock you on your back sometime,” he replied.

Estinien laughed, knowing from experience he’d make good on the threat.

“Aye, especially if I get to watch,” chuckled Haure. Aymeric smirked and kept his peace.

“Actually,” Kyler began. “I was thinking, I know that you are all busy, but,” a touch of nervousness moved through him. “There is someplace I should like to take you all, if we could manage to get a day to ourselves.”

“What sort of place?” Haurchefant asked immediately, openly excited, not a thought spared for his duty in the moment. They’d daydreamed together about getting away for what felt like months now.

Kyler’s smile built. “Perhaps it would be a surprise.” Haure’s lips pouted fleetingly but his eyes were still bright.

Aymeric sighed, studying some arbitrary point on the table, clearly thinking over lists of duties and tasks awaiting him. The Speaker for the House of Lords and Lord Commander of the Temple Knights had many demands on his attention.

“I think,” he began, cautious. “Once this latest session is concluded I could contrive a way to get a bit of time off.” He looked to Haurchefant.

“Emmanellain has volunteered to learn the ins and outs of Camp Dragonhead,” he said brightly. “I’m to instruct him on the finer points starting next week, in fact.”

“Oh excellent,” Aymeric arced an eyebrow. “I would say ‘see to it that he doesn’t inherit your clerical habits,’ though I doubt the sentiment would help much.”

Haure only laughed brightly.

“Honoroit will keep them both on the straight and narrow,” Kyler said, confident it would be the case.

“The little pageboy is going too, is he?” Estinien said.

“Emmanellain would forget his own head without him,” Kyler relied, sipping his tea.

“Fury bless him but he means well,” Haure chuckled.

“Estinien?” Kyler prompted.

“Hm?” Under the table he shifted one of his feet, effectively rubbing Kyler’s leg. Incorrigible.

“Would you be able to take some time away with us?”

He scoffed out a breath. “If Aymeric can manage it, I’ll be there,” he said, finally relinquishing Kyler’s ankle. Kyler circled it to pop it before grazing it along Estinien’s calf, returning the gesture. “Just tell me when.”

“And you won’t tell us anything about your plan?” Aymeric asked, clearly curious though he was smiling serenely.

“You’ll want clothes for warmer climes,” he said, his own smile building to a grin. “And bathing.”

Haure looked positively giddy; Aymeric’s eyebrows raised in surprise; Estinien looked perhaps skeptical.

“And how are we to get to these warmer climes?” the lattermost asked.

“Leave that to me.” 

*

Ultimately the prospect of getting to surprise his loves drove Kyler to prepare much more than he initially thought he would. He managed, with a bit of snooping, to speak with tailors that had made clothes for the three of them before (and was surprised and delighted by the discovery that Aymeric’s tailor had made things for Estinien at Aymeric’s request; almost exclusively finery for events that Estinien had, as was his habit, snubbed). Since they had their measurements on record—which Kyler paid a pretty penny for copies of, for future reference—he was able to commission clothes that he felt they would like which would be more comfortable where they were going. Aymeric’s garments incorporated the deep, rich blue that he favored, a nod to his House. Haure’s were heather grey and rich red, a darker shade that still recalled the Fortemps family crest; both were accented with warm golden buttons, a hue not unlike the yellow the family’s knights wore. And Estinien’s were, though finely made, simple, black and white - anything showier and Kyler feared he wouldn’t wear them. He suggested the three of them wear coats that could be easily removed with these new clothes; he was planning on taking them by Aetheryte though he didn’t tell them as much. The bathing clothes he left them to arrange on their own, even if a mischievous part of him wanted to do it himself.

He called in favors from what felt like eons ago by letter and linkpearl, plumbing the depths of his memory and the pocket journals he kept that bore little more than lists of dates, places, names, and key words - shorthand to help him keep straight what people had asked of him. Writing things down helped him remember. He asked after the recipe for a certain salve meant to ease the muscles, secured accommodations and board, reserved bathing screens, even managed to get his hands on a prodigiously rare bottle of wine. From Shamani Lohmani, no less; at this point he didn’t trust any other vinter, not really.

“You’ve been so busy,” Haure said, insinuating his hands onto Kyler’s shoulders, beginning to rub them. Kyler let out a sound of relief as he worked the knots in his muscles. 

“Haure,” he said, a mock-warning in his voice. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Why,” he returned an equally-mock sound of affront. “I am merely seeking to provide some relief to my love, dearest to my heart,” he said, still blustering.

Kyler grinned, tilting his head back to look straight up, into his face. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you,” Haure returned, bending to kiss his mouth.

“You’re not getting any of the details.”

Haurchefant laughed, shaking his head, and continued rubbing his shoulders. “Can’t fault a man for trying.”

*

The extra planning paid off when Aymeric informed them he was able to secure a whole week away. It was, according to him, largely “on Lucia’s insistence.” Kyler made a note to bring her something  _ very _ nice in thanks even as he revised his carefully-laid plans. Thankfully, all involved were happy to receive more of his custom (and his gil). Haure practically scrambled to arrange that long of a holiday with his brother, checking to be sure he could handle Camp Dragonhead for an entire week. Estinien still seemed trepidatious. So much so that Kyler drew him aside one day, walking with him through the recently-restored New Nest of the Firmament.

It was a quiet evening, the setting sun lancing through the clouds, bathing the snow and stone in stunning golds and oranges. It reminded Kyler of autumn in Gridania. Silences sat comfortable between them now, a fact for which they both seemed grateful. After letting one stretch and rest as they walked, and making sure they were unlikely to be overheard, Kyler spoke.

“You are...uncertain of our little outing,” he said.

Estinien’s attention went to him fully, his bright grey eyes flashing over his face before his gaze returned forward. “Little,” he repeated. “A week is substantial.”

“Certainly more than I was expecting,” Kyler agreed.

“I,” Estinien sighed, seeming exasperated with himself. He stopped on one of the new bridges, putting his boot up on its only-slightly raised edge, poking holes in the layer of snow there. Restless. “I poorly manage idleness,” he said suddenly. “If I have naught to do I will drive myself mad.”

Kyler stepped up beside him and slipped a hand into his. Estinien held onto it automatically and squeezed, and Kyler thought of how far they’d come in that regard, too; he remembered a time when he wouldn’t have dared even try to hold his hand outside of closed doors. “Does it bother you, not knowing what I have in mind?” he asked. “Or, do you think it may help if it weren’t a surprise?”

Estinien made a face, kicking at the snow again. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, if you promise not to tell Haure or Aymeric, I will tell you,” Kyler said. Estinien turned to him, shocked. “On the off-chance it does help.”

Estinien’s eyes moved back and forth between Kyler’s two. “No,” he decided, one corner of his mouth twitching up. “It’s not the uncertainty.” Kyler read something else in the sentiment, too: that he trusted him. He was grateful.

“Well,” Kyler stepped up closer still, tilting his head down to speak directly into his ear, soft and low. “I’ll be sure to keep you...occupied.”

Estinien blushed vibrant crimson and then elbowed Kyler in the ribs for it, not hard, just enough to expel some of his embarrassed energy. “Terrible,” he muttered, but he was smiling.

*

With more time at their disposal, Kyler went to the trouble to have his retainer see their things safely to their destination so that none of them need worry about the luggage.

“It’s all taken care of,” Kyler said into his linkpearl. They were ever mindful of the fact that linkpearls did not guarantee privacy, that they could be overheard. As such, they’d developed a casual sort of code, adopting the parlance of, amusingly, adventurers. It rendered anything they said innocuous, making it sound as though they were perpetually assisting each other with trivial matters. Sometimes, they actually were doing just that, but not often. “The parcels are on their way.”

“Excellent, thank you Kyler,” Aymeric’s low, sonorous voice returned over the connection. Speaking remotely always accentuated how deep his voice was, and it never failed to put a smile on Kyler’s face.

“And you require assistance outside the Forgotten Knight tomorrow, yes? Late morning?” Haurchefant’s voice came in. 

“Late morning,” Kyler confirmed. “Thank you,” he said.

“Ta,” said Estinien, if only to show he’d heard. Kyler disconnected the little device. It was nearly time.


	2. Departure

The eleventh bell had just finished tolling when Estinien joined them. Kyler was happy to see that he was indeed wearing the clothes he’d commissioned under a coat.

“Good morning,” Haurchefant beamed. He’d been full of restless energy since he’d woken, the anticipation of finally discovering where Kyler had selected as their destination plainly mounting.

“Speak for yourself,” Estinien groused, and Kyler noted that he had his hands in his pockets, his shoulders high, the very picture of cold. Kyler shot him an apologetic smile.

“And now we only need wait for…” Kyler began, but before he could finish Aymeric rounded the corner. His coat was open, showing off the expertly fitted shirt beneath; it had double-breasted button closures reminiscent of a waistcoat and accentuated his frame in all the ways his usual ensemble did not. All three of their eyes were on him on the instant and there was something satisfied in his smile.

“Speak of the devil,” Estinien said softly, but he was still looking him up and down.

“Shall we?” Aymeric said.

“Yes,” Kyler smiled, and led the way into the Forgotten Knight, downstairs, out again, and into a secluded corner. “I considered taking us to the Aetheryte plaza to make it clear but,” he tilted his head, a concession. “Being seen all four of us so plainly leaving at the same time, I thought perhaps this would be safer.”

“We’re going by Aetheryte, then?” Aymeric said.

“Yes,” Kyler smiled, and held out his hand. “Hold on, if you would.” Aymeric, across from him, held his hand. Estinien and Haurchefant held to his wrist, all three of their grips steady. Kyler met each of their eyes in turn before closing his, focusing on the Aetheryte he needed. The soles of his boots lifted from the cobblestones, the aetherial currents stirring his clothes and hair like wind, and as he took to the proper one, he felt the others pulled with him. 

The smell was what struck him first, of mineral water and lush, green earth, the air warm and humid though not unpleasantly. He opened his eyes and watched the faces of his beloveds. 

“Welcome,” he said. “To Camp Bronze Lake.”

The three of them turned immediately to take in their surroundings. The sun rode high above them in a clear sky, the only clouds thin wisps like shreds of gauze, high above. It illuminated the emerald-tinged waters, making them seem to glow, and everywhere around them was their music. Waterfalls burst from precipitous cliffs above, their mist and spray shimmering in the daylight, it striking them into rainbows. Vivid plantlife thrived amongst cobblestones and the remains of ancient structures as though decorating the ruins. 

“Kyler,” Aymeric laughed softly, delight transforming his features. “This place is gorgeous.”

Haurchefant was grinning, his eyes never stilling, as though every time he took something in something more to see distracted him.

Estinien sighed, eyes wide, and shrugged out of his coat. His loose white shirt looked absolutely striking on him, its wide-cut collar showing off his neck, his clavicles, and where it was tucked into his slim black trousers accentuated his slender waist. “I’m grateful now you warned us of the weather,” he said, pushing up the cuffs of the sleeves. “It’s so warm.”

Haure crowed out a laugh, throwing an arm about Kyler’s shoulders and planting a solid kiss on his cheek. “You take such good care of us,” he said in his ear, overjoyed. 

“So,” Aymeric said, regaining some of his composure. Excitement still sparkled in his eyes. “Will you give us the tour, as it were?”

“Absolutely,” Kyler smiled. 

In the end, the Camp itself was small, smaller even than Dragonhead, but what it lacked in settlement space it made up for in sheer natural beauty. He pointed out the stalls of the merchants who had set up shop, including several food vendors whose wares rendered the air in the impromptu marketplace thick with spices, the resident mender, the tavernhouse. 

“But the water itself is what brings people here from malms around,” Kyler told them, pausing where the cobbled pathways led to deeper pools of many-hued water. “The pools are different temperatures naturally, and the minerals in the water are said to have healing properties. You can even buy it bottled from an upstream source to drink like a supplement,” he chuckled. “Some folk swear by it.”

“And the water is warm?” Estinien cocked an eyebrow. 

“Some of it is downright hot,” he said, indicating one of the further pools with a slight nod. An Auri fellow reclined in the water there up to his neck, his light skin flushed bright crimson from the heat. Steam rose from the surface of the water in great clouds. He was the only patron enjoying that particular pool.

“Marvelous,” Haurchefant said. “The only swimming to be had in Coerthas is to train the body to withstand brutal cold!”

“Or any number of particularly ill-advised rites of passage,” Aymeric shot Estinien a look.

“It sounds like there’s a story there,” Kyler chuckled. “One you might tell me over lunch? It should be ready for us soon at the inn.”

“Perhaps,” Estinien said, trying for a neutral look and failing. He seemed intrigued, happy, even. He’d piqued his interest. “If you’re _very_ lucky.”

Kyler grinned and led the way.

*

Lunch was a sampling of various light dishes, everything made with foods local to La Noscea. There were delicate seared fish filets, mild and flaky; an assortment of fresh-cut vegetables with a variety of dressings to dip them in if they so desired; dates stuffed with cheese and wrapped with thin-sliced pork, hot from the grill; and a wide array of fruits, including slices of the famous La Noscean orange. They had an embarrassment of riches in the selection of beverages, each of them choosing a different juice or nectar in the end and delighting in the opportunity to sample each other’s choices. Estinien liked Haurchefant’s lemonade so much he threatened not to give it back. When Estinien wasn’t paying attention, Kyler ordered him one.

“I confess, I’m curious what first brought you to this beautiful place,” Aymeric said, reclining in his seat and idly swirling his nectar in its glass. His smile was full and beautiful, reaching his eyes. It made Kyler want to lean across the table and kiss him, though he supposed he ought to let them all finish their lunch. 

“Believe it or not, I came here seeking one of the former Company of Heroes.” The three of them perked up at that, each after their own fashion.

“Really?” Haurchefant reacted, excitement plain in his voice. He was nothing if not deeply interested in heroics, as always.

“Yes,” Kyler smiled. “For information on how they defeated Titan. He was a...private fellow. I had to go to three very specific locations and whistle to prove I’d been sent by another former Company member.” He smiled wryly at the memory. Estinien shook his head. Kyler dropped his voice still further, cognizant that they were on a veranda in a public place. “As it happens, there’s an Aetheryte not far from here the Kobolds use to navigate their mines and tunnels.”

“A beast-tribe Aetheryte,” Aymeric repeated, studying Kyler in that way he did when he’d heard something new or unexpected.

“Is there _any_ sort of Aetheryte you would balk at?” Haurchefant asked, his chest and shoulders moving with a chuckle. His new garments, too, were much more flattering to his figure than his uniform. He’d cuffed the sleeves of his wine red shirt and wore the laces at the stand-up collar a touch open, exposing a narrow triangle of his muscled chest, a casual choice even for him. 

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” Kyler answered.

“And idiot schemes,” Estinien shot back.

Kyler laughed in spite of himself. “Aye, and those too. If it comforts you at all I would not attempt something akin to Akh Afah again,” he relented, glancing Haure’s way. He remembered how much that risk had pained him, the panic it had instilled, as, he was certain, did Aymeric. Haurchefant gave him a soft smile, placing his hand on Kyler’s knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. As he sat to Kyler’s right, it was his prosthetic hand; Kyler reached over to return the gesture so that it was one he might feel.

“Are you sure?” Estinien said. “I’d rather like to see Haurchefant restrained by six knights.”

Haure shot him a look, a smirk following close. “Why, when you could do it yourself?”

Estinien flushed in spite of himself and looked rather grumpy that he did. Haure smiled, relenting.

“I do think you said something about ill-conceived coming of age rituals?” Kyler said, not about to forget a story with that much promise. Aymeric chuckled.

“Feeling lucky then?” Estinien groused, but only halfheartedly.

“Moderately,” Kyler nudged his foot up against Estinien’s, rubbing it against the back of his ankle when he didn’t push him away or try to trap it again. 

Aymeric smiled, his eyes sparkling. “It was a tradition for young Temple Knights to swim the Coerthas river, to the opposite shore and back, at high altitudes after swearing their oaths,” he said. “Though now, altitude would hardly be necessary for frigid temperatures.”

Estinien raised an eyebrow at him. “What he’s not saying is it’s tradition to do so _naked._ ” Kyler kept down his laughter; Haure did not. “And that he was the first into the water and out of it again.”

“What _Estinien_ is neglecting to say is that he only ended up in the water, fully clothed, because he was pushed by one of his seniors,” Aymeric said, smiling blithely. “I believe he protested that it was stupid.”

“It was and still is,” Estinien replied. His little frown was abruptly replaced by a look of curiosity. “Hang on, you remember that?”

Aymeric blushed slightly, his eyes dodging away from him momentarily. “I believe I have told you before now that I took notice of you...quickly.” He said, blush darkening.

Estinien blinked, leaning in to growl something in Aymeric’s ear, part of which sounded an awful lot like ‘I love you so fucking much’ to Kyler. He and Haure shared a smile, and Haure’s thumb skated over his knee, his hand still resting there, steady. 

*

The four of them sat together, whiling away the afternoon talking about everything and nothing. The sun dipped behind the foliage of the ruin-clad cliffs, bathing Camp Bronze Lake in cool blue-green shadows. 

“Well,” Haurchefant smiled after a comfortable pause. “I would hazard, Kyler, that you did not choose a destination with hot springs without intending we partake?”

“I do believe I asked you to bring bathing clothes, yes,” he smiled back. Estinien gave the slightest hiss of breath, though it was unclear if the protestation was in response to Kyler’s obviously relishing the idea or at the idea itself.

“T’would be remiss of us to stay in a place famed for its healing waters and not try them,” Aymeric observed gently, that same serene smile that he wore when heckling them - especially Estinien - on his face.

“And a chance to parade us about in our smallclothes,” he grumped, stretching his arms and putting his hands behind his head.

“That’s why I reserved bathing screens for us,” Kyler said, a smirk pulling at his mouth. “Though I admit, I thought it would be to appeal to Aymeric’s sensibilities, not yours.”

Estinien shot him a look like he was considering saying something more but Aymeric’s laughter seemed to make him change his mind.

“Besides,” Kyler said, feeling a touch bashful. “I’d like to be able to relax with you all, not worry about who might recognize me, or any of us.” Often being the Warrior of Light was its own reward, but sometimes he craved the anonymity of being merely a traveler, a man on the road, again.

“Then these screens will serve us well,” Haure declared, standing but dropping his hand to Kyler’s shoulder to give it an affectionate squeeze. “I for one am excited. I’m going to get changed.” 

*

The inn room had been prepared with four robes that they might wear to and from the springs and stacks of fluffy white towels, meticulously folded. At the sight of the robes, Estinien’s shoulders dropped tension they’d been holding that Kyler hadn’t noticed slowly building. They were all un-shy around each other about their bodies by now, but it struck Kyler with a pang that of all of them, he and Estinien were the most comprehensively scarred. The effect was only heightened if Haure was wearing his elegant prosthetic - where it fitted to the stump of his left arm covered the scarring left behind by the amputation. Thinking on all of it, he realized they were all of them marred by the battles they’d survived, just in different manners. 

All the same, Estienen had appeared to be the only one gripped by a bout of self-consciousness, so after shrugging into his robe, Kyler crossed to him and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. 

Estinien looked at him in surprise, as though considering asking what that had been for, but instead he smiled his charming, crooked smile at him and said, “You missed.”

Kyler leaned in to kiss his lips instead.

Haure was hemming and hawing in the background, fidgeting with his robe, when Aymeric paused near both Kyler and Estinien to whisper, “If we linger much more he might burst.” He crossed to him then to loop his arm through Haurchefant’s casually and lead him toward the door. 

Kyler took Estinien’s hand and squeezed it momentarily, thinking he’d want him to let go, but he held on until they crossed the threshold and were outdoors again.

*

After some time wandering between the different pools and testing their temperatures, Kyler was delighted that they settled on one of his absolute favorites as their main choice. The bath attendant had explained to the three Ishgardians that people often moved from pool to pool, and there were different benefits ascribed to subjecting oneself to a surge of heat or a momentary cold shock to the system. 

“How cold?” Aymeric had asked, to which she’d smiled.

“Nothing so cold as to do any harm. It’s the difference in temperature between it and the other pools that is of import.”

That had seemed to placate him. The pool they’d chosen was hot but pleasantly so, and, perhaps more delightful to Kyler than the temperature itself, it had a small waterfall that fed into it. Their screens set up in one corner of the pool, they hung their robes and settled in.

Haurchefant and Aymeric both could not or did not care to contain groans of pleasure as they sank into the hot water. Estinien, looking a touch trepidatious still, sat gingerly, but soon even he let out a sigh and relaxed.

“This is absolutely divine,” Haure said, a satisfied smile overtaking his features.

Aymeric hummed agreement, stretching his neck and shoulders. After a moment, he dunked his head beneath the water, resurfacing in a burst. Somehow seeing his curls wet suited him very well. “A man could get used to this,” he said, reclining against a smooth stone at his back. 

“If only,” Kyler agreed, chuckling. Beside him, Haurchefant stretched his back steadily until it gave a loud pop. He sighed in open relief.

“I did bring something,” Kyler began, wading to his robe, specifically the contents of its pockets.

“Should we be nervous?” Estinien joked.

“You wish,” he shot back, retrieving the little vessel of muscle ointment. 

“What’s this then?” Haure asked, automatically putting an arm around Kyler when he sat beside him.

“Ointment for sore muscles,” he smiled. “I picked the recipe up on my travels. It’s a touch strong, but if you try it and like it I can always apply more later.”

“Very well,” Haure agreed, and Kyler thought he perhaps flushed a little in a manner unrelated to the heat of the springs.

Kyler happily administered some of the thick oil to Haurchefant’s back, focusing on the tight column of muscles that flanked his spine which he knew often gave him grief. He worked it into his skin, the smell of herbs sharp and strong.

“I like the smell,” Aymeric noted.

“That’s lucky,” Kyler chuckled. Some people hated it.

“It’ll clear your sinuses, that’s for well and certain,” Estinien added.

Haure only tilted his head forward, humming appreciatively, and Kyler spread it to his neck and shoulders as well. 

“It tingles,” he said with a hint of surprise.

“It feels warm on its own merits, moreso when you’re not in the bath.” Kyler turned, offering. “Aymeric?”

His eyes widened in surprise and he, too, flushed a little darker. “Please,” he said softly and sat forward. Much of his tension was in his lower back, and Kyler prompted him to sit higher in the water for a moment so he could rub the salve in. After he’d finished Aymeric sank slowly back in, touching his shoulder so he could say in his ear, “Thank you, love,” and brush a feather-light kiss just in front of it. Kyler trailed his hand over his knee.

“Estinien?”

Estinien blinked at him, unmoving. 

“Too strong for you?” He asked.

“No,” he protested.

“Your muscles are all one giant knot,” Kyler pointed out.

Estinien paused, meeting his eyes and holding them, stubborn and steady. “Fine,” he said at last, and sat more out of the water. 

Kyler joined him and as he began massaging it into his back, he told him low, so only he could hear, “If you don’t like it I’ll wash it off you again.”

Estinien replied only by giving his leg a squeeze, under the surface of the pool. 

After Kyler was finished, Estinien immediately put his hand out for the jar. “Give it to me.”

Puzzled, Kyler handed it over.

“And turn round,” he scowled and smiled at once, shaking his head. He was going to return the favor.

“Oh!” Kyler obeyed, kneeling in the water before him. Estinien’s strong hands roved his back and shoulders, finding tension in places he didn’t even realize he had. He groaned softly and relaxed, relishing the attention. 

“There you are,” Estinien said softly, the roughness of his voice familiar and comforting. 

“Thank you,” Kyler said, smiling. And then, with the urgency of abruptly remembering, “Don’t touch it and then touch your face, any of you.” He got to his feet for soap for his and Estinien’s hands. “You don’t want it in your eyes.”

“Something in the way you said that tells me you know this personally,” Aymeric said. 

Kyler pointed at him by way of confirmation. 

“You take such good care of us,” Haure said abruptly. When Kyler looked to him, his smile was gentle but bright, positively sunny, his blue eyes full of love.

“I try,” Kyler smiled back, and sank into the water.

*

“I think I might need to try another pool before I get sleepy,” Aymeric said, straightening up and reaching for his drinking water. The attendant had made sure to impress upon them the importance of taking in fluids while in the baths so as not to sweat too much out. This sole factor was the reason Kyler hadn’t arranged for their wine to be brought to them in the spring - dehydration and alcohol were brutal bedfellows.

“Of course,” Kyler smiled. “And you can always stand under the falls for a wake-up.”

Aymeric brightened, leaning back to look up at the arc of the water as it came down. “That sounds lovely actually,” he said, more to himself than to any of them.

“Don’t get flattened,” Estinien said. It would have been his usual grousing except he was up to his chin and thoroughly languid by this point, his eyes closed, his hair a white cloud about him in the water. 

“It’s more likely to take your bathing clothes off you if you’re not careful,” Kyler said. All three of them immediately looked at him, surprise and amusement and secondhand embarrassment at the notion. “Yes, another thing I learned the hard way,” he said before they could ask. Haurchefant burst out laughing, and it precipitated it in the other three.

“I shall be careful,” Aymeric said, the words jarred by his persistent laughter. He began to move out from behind the screen bound for other pools.

“Or don’t, only make sure we can see,” Haure called after him. 

Aymeric paused to give him a wink.

“Rogue,” Estinien shot at him.

“Pot and kettle, Estinien,” Haurchefant stretched, unperturbed, and leaned back.

*

When Aymeric returned he strode straight to the waterfall, stepping in and letting it strike his shoulders, his back. Spray haloed him and after a breathless moment he began to laugh. 

“This is wonderful!” He called to them, pure joy on his face as he raised his hands, palms up, the force of the falls making them shake as water struck them.

“Now that does look lovely,” Haure said; Estinien was already getting to his feet. Kyler moved to sit beside Haurchefant, leaning his head on his shoulder. As they watched, even Estinien began to laugh under the falls, side by side with Aymeric, the two of them delighted with the water and each other. It made Kyler’s heart swell with happiness to see.

“You’re the love of my life, Kyler,” Haurchefant said quietly.

Kyler looked up into his face, struck by the sentiment and the way he looked at him. Like he was precious, like he could look through him and into his soul. “Haurchefant,” he said softly.

“I love all three of you,” he said. It wasn’t an amendment; it was another statement, two equally beautiful and true things held side by side.

“I love you with all that I am, Haurchefant,” Kyler told him, and though they were in a springs and the screens were far from guaranteeing privacy and though he knew certainly that at least the bath attendant knew who they all were and every other nagging thing, Kyler closed the distance and pressed his lips to his.

Overhead, a rumble of thunder rolled through the heavens.

All four of their attention snapped skyward, and though clouds were coming in, there was no rain yet.

“I didn’t see the lightning,” Kyler said.

“Of course not, you were busy,” said Estinien, joining them.

“Neither did I,” Aymeric added. 

A grin overtook Kyler’s face. “I couldn’t have planned this better,” he said, laughter bubbling up in him. “La Noscea thunderstorms are a sight to behold.”

“Oh?” Haure prompted, getting to his feet and looking like he was headed for a turn in the waterfall.

“They’re not very common,” Kyler smiled, and decided to go with him.

“You like storms, then?” Haure asked and promptly made a huff of sound as he stepped beneath the falls, it practically knocking the noise out of him. He laughed at himself.

“Yes,” Kyler said. “I always have. Even more, now, they make me think of the Sylphs. Thunder is Ramuh’s voice,” he chuckled, thinking of Little Solace and _those ones_ who were his friends there. He hoped the storm would go to them. “It’s a cause for celebration.”

“You are such a remarkable man,” he said, smiling at him as he had been moments before. 

“As are you,” Kyler said, and stayed in the falls with him, enjoying every second.

*

The storm reached them in earnest after they’d returned to their room. It was one of those late summer storms, the rain heavy but not lashing, the flash and following crack and grumble of lightning and thunder high-up enough to not shake the inn but close enough to be thrilling. For a time Kyler and Haure sat at the window, watching for the brilliant forks of light, reacting to their shapes as they cut across the sky.

“You two,” Estinien huffed, but when Kyler looked there was something fond in his face. Perhaps it was because he was relaxed from the springs, or because Aymeric had convinced him to let him comb and braid his hair. For all his coarse exterior, his bravado, few things soothed him like having his hair played with, though he almost never asked for it. 

“Have you never enjoyed the sight of a storm, Estinien?” Haure asked, delight plain in his face.

Estinien only managed to look mildly grumpy before the motions of Aymeric’s hands wiped the frown from his brow.

“Storms in Ishgard are...intense,” Aymeric said softly. “Especially if you are high up in the city.”

Kyler, admittedly, hadn’t considered that. But of course lightning always sought the tallest structure, and Ishgard was a city perched above a chasm of unfathomable depth. Defensible from the ground in the extreme, but likely to draw many a lightning strike.

“Do you know the counting trick?” Kyler asked none of them in particular, thinking suddenly of Lyse. “You can use it to determine how close a storm is, counting from the flash.” He waited, watching, and when the next fork of lightning split the sky, he began counting aloud softly. “Six,” he reached before the thunder cantered through the heavens. “Six malms away.”

He hazarded a glance over his shoulder. Estinien’s eyes were closed, his expression inscrutable, but Aymeric gave him a fond, and somewhat amused, smile.

“A useful trick,” Haure said softly at his elbow. 

“One of the other Scions taught me that, when we were dispatched to Little Solace. Lyse,” he said, and wondered how she was doing. 

“Lyse,” Haure repeated, looking at him with the slightest frown.

“She was going by Yda,” Kyler said quietly. A look of recognition crossed his face at the mention.

“There are too many of you as it is to be changing names,” Estinien protested. 

Kyler laughed. “Sure, Estinien “wyrmslayer” Wyrmblood, former Azure Dragoon, “Nidhogg’s Bane”, the first of his na—” He cut off as a pillow sailed across the room and hit him square in the head.

And like that Estinien was on him, getting his arms around him and hoisting him into the air. Overcome with laughter, Kyler didn’t bother even to struggle - after all, he’d likely only end up by kicking Haure or Aymeric if he tried. A moment and a pivot later and he’d been thrown to the bed, Estinien grappling him; thinking he was going to tickle him, Kyler protested a breathless “no!” still laughing and tried to put his hands up in defense, but Estinien grabbed his wrists and pinned him firmly. He was smirking, but his eyes were soft.

More laughter bubbled up in Kyler, he couldn’t help it: whether it was play fighting or no, Estinien was so seldom openly _playful_ , and the look he gave him, hovering over him, made him melt. He bent to kiss him, his still-damp bangs brushing over Kyler’s face. Though this one wasn’t rough, Estinien’s kisses were seldom soft: they almost always had a weight to them, a substantiality. Today his mouth felt hot against his, perhaps from the bath, perhaps from something else.

When he pulled away suddenly he stayed close, giving Kyler a crooked grin. “I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he said low, his gravelly voice rendering the words a near growl. Kyler felt himself flush.

“Are we spoiling him at last?” asked Aymeric, moving to lounge on his side above Kyler. 

“Perhaps,” Estinien answered, but Aymeric had already leaned in, tilting his head on one side to kiss Kyler’s mouth next. He hummed out his appreciation, thoroughly enjoying the little motions of Aymeric’s lips on his.

“Only perhaps?” Haure said, putting a knee into the mattress so he could lean in and kiss him as well, Aymeric only relinquishing Kyler’s mouth when he drew near.

“Perhaps I’d like to tease him a while instead,” Estinien replied, a keen light in his eyes. 

Kyler could feel Haure’s building smile even before he broke their kiss and Aym hummed his response nearby; he knew him well enough by now to tell from its tone that he was intrigued by the notion. “O-oh?” Kyler responded, breath hitching as Estinien’s grip on his wrists tightened ever so slightly.

“Well now,” Haurchefant said, looking down at him through heavily-lidded eyes, his irises smiling blue slivers that cut the air between them. “That’s a marvelous idea, Estinien.”

Estinien growled out a sound, clearly pleased to have the unanimous support of the other two. “I certainly thought so,” he leaned down slowly, the muscles of his neck visibly shifting, and brushed his mouth against the arc of Kyler’s jaw, a preamble only to the touch of his tongue, hot against him. Kyler jolted at the contact, feeling himself flush, and shivered as he skated his teeth over the tender skin of his neck - mindful of how sharp they now were, careful not to break skin, but letting them drag, lightly snagging here and there.

“Aym,” Estinien said softly, and Kyler felt Aymeric’s hands too on his arms, keeping him pinned and leaving Estinien’s free to run down Kyler’s as he retreated lower, nuzzling into the collar of his shirt to nip at his clavicles. While he did Aymeric leaned down, upside down to Kyler’s eyes now, and there was something almost possessive in his look as he kissed Kyler’s mouth, pressing his tongue between his lips. Kyler huffed and moaned out a response, but it was short lived, triumph in the corners of the smile Aym gave him for a fleeting moment before he began kissing his neck. Haure joined, his mouth hot on his other side, wandering up to his ear, a little bite at the lobe, a lick at the tip, even as Estinien was getting the laces on his shirt as open as they would go, nipping at his chest. Not content with that for long, he pushed his warm hands up onto Kyler’s sides under his shirt, stroking and cupping the contours of his muscles for the sake of it, holding him solidly.

“Here,” Aymeric said, not needing more prompting, and, taking Kyler’s wrists, lifted his arms; Haure reached under him, supporting the small of his back and lifting him to half-sitting, and something in being moved so easily, at still being held precisely where his lovers pleased, thrilled him. He could feel his whole body flush and when Estininen’s white-grey eyes lanced through his, eager, he shook. He pushed Kyler’s shirt up and away, his and Aymeric’s hands dancing over his arms to free him from the cuffs, and once it was done, Estinien guided Kyler to lean back against Aymeric’s chest, put his hands behind Aymeric’s head; he instinctively entangled them in his still-damp curls.

“If I release you, will you behave?” Aymeric asked, his voice low, deep, his breath warm on Kyler’s ear. 

Kyler bit his lip, managing an “mm-hmm,” and demonstrating by leaving his hands precisely where they’d been placed when Aymeric loosened his grip, shifting so he could run his first down Kyler’s sides, onto his abdomen and then up to his chest. Haure and Estinien were coaxing his trousers off him and the sight of the both of them, heads down near his hips, looking up at him made him swell.

Kyler shook and shivered, his focus slipping, swamped with sensation: hands stroking his calves; lips tracing the shapes of the muscles of his thighs; Aymeric toying with his nipples; Estinien’s sharp teeth biting one of his hips, though not breaking the skin; a hand stroking from the base of his back to his shoulder-blades, fingertips travelling the dip of his spine; Haure getting a hand under him to squeeze his ass and licking the ripple of his abdomen when he tightened it involuntarily, his mouth going to one of his nipples; Aymeric biting and sucking at his shoulder, leaving a mark, heat rushing to the spot; Estinien moving up to join him, licking and lavishing the other side of his chest, his neck; their arms and hands everywhere, holding him, their bodies all entwined, fully caught up in each others’ orbit.

And then, slowly, biting and marking and gripping gave way to kisses, to lighter touches, and the tension, the intensity, of the long moments before drained away. Kyler went limp in their arms, far more spent than he expected, breathing hard, heart racing, still addled from the storm of sensation and not fully back in himself yet.

Aymeric chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to his temple. Estinien smiled at him, his eyes soft, perhaps as soft as he’d ever seen them, and gently brushed a touch over his cheek, cradling his face for a moment. Haure gently moved Kyler’s arms, lowering them, conscious that having them in one position for so long might render his shoulders sore, and massaged them with his fingertips after they’d come to rest. 

“Love?” he prompted after a moment, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Wow,” Kyler breathed, still incapable of really thinking.

The three of them laughed, and not meanly. They kissed him, and one of them wrapped him in a blanket, and all of a sudden, he slept.

Though the thunder had moved on, the music of the rain yet played over the windowpanes. It was dim but not dark out, and though the light was waning more and more as each day passed it was not yet autumn; were it not for the weather the sun would have still been setting. Kyler lay sleeping, his face blissful, carefree in his slumber.

Haurchefant noticed Aymeric watching him and sat at his side. “I think that speaks of a job well done,” he said softly.

“Yes,” he replied, smile widening, nodding a little.

Estinien joined them, setting the teapot over the warmer while its contents steeped, the smell of citrus wafting from the spout.

Aym hummed, perking up a touch. “What is that?” he asked. 

“A La Noscean herbal blend,” Estinien answered, joining them at the little table. “It has bits of orange peel in it, I think.” Aymeric’s eyes all but sparkled, eager to try it.

“He truly thought of everything,” Haure said, joy bubbling up in him at the knowledge. Their adventurer, their Kyler. 

“Yes,” Estinien said, and his eyes, too, strayed to the bed, to the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. “Well done indeed,” he repeated, a breath that could have been a laugh ghosting past his lips. “This much talking, even so quiet, would normally wake him.” Seeing him sleeping so soundly made him remember when they’d journeyed together, the two of them, Alphinaud, and Lady Ysayle, how out in the wilderness Kyler had ever seemed wakeful, as though he forwent sleep and only rested with his eyes shut, ready and alert at less than a moment’s notice.

“What is it, Esti?” Aymeric asked, his fingertips brushing, light, onto the back of his hand, tracing shapes there.

“Just remembering,” he began, eyes straying to the other two’s. “Traveling with him to Sohm Al, for a time I could have sworn he never slept, yet he did not seem worse the wear for it. The drop of a pin could wake him.” He had to bite down on a laugh to keep it from sounding, abrupt. “One of the godsdamned Moogles learned the hard way not to wake him with a touch, idiot nearly lost his stupid puff.” 

Aymeric and Haurchefant kept down their own laughter, delighted if not by the notion then by Estinien’s lopsided grin.

“I’m still not sure where that knife even came from,” he said, another breath of laughter huffing out of him.

“A trait he has somewhat in common with you,” Aymeric smiled blithely at him, clearly teasing.

“Oh?” Haure prompted, eyes dancing. He didn’t think he’d heard this one. Estinien looked away, his smile twisting, a touch of embarrassment, perhaps, but his good humor unsullied.

“There was a time or two in our Temple Knights days that I had to wake him and ended up on my back for my trouble,” Aymeric’s smile widened with the effort of keeping himself from laughing. Esti was turning red around the edges, even now, years later.

“At least there were no knives involved,” he said, a pale imitation of his ordinary grumpiness.

“Indeed,” said Aymeric, and held his hand. “Though the time you pinned me....left an impression.” His eyes sparkled with humor and Estinien’s blush darkened, though he smiled at him.

Haure’s attention strayed to the bed again. How deeply Kyler slept warmed his heart in ways he couldn’t describe, but at the core of it was trust, and love, and safety.

“Do you suppose he’d want us to wake him?” Estinien asked. There was a jape in there somewhere about having already removed his clothes and therefore any hidden knives, though he didn’t voice it.

“Let’s leave him be,” Haure replied. “He’ll wake in due time. Here,” he rose to rummage about in his things and produced a pack of cards. While Aymeric poured the tea, he began to shuffle, the snap of the cards a comfortable counterpoint to the rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you'd like to wallow in brain worms with me please feel free to hit me up on twitter @ScruffyChocoboi!
> 
> This is part of an ongoing and evolving collection!  
> In October, twitter user @kowaretaP posted a prompt list called Kisstober delineated as follows:  
> Days 1-9: First Kiss  
> Days 10-16: Fluffy Hours  
> Days 17-23: Tension  
> Days 24-31: Goodbye  
> along with encouragement to alter them as desired. I did some sketches for the polycule, but the brain worms took over and had me writing the scenarios too. I also added a prequel section I've been calling "First Sight, First Pangs."
> 
> This is it, the end of the OG Kisstober fics. But instead of doing "goodbye" kisses, I wanted to do a good old-fashioned obligatory hot springs episode! It....has gotten away from me, but I will chip away at it.
> 
> Tentatively, this takes place after Estinien's recovery and before patch 3.5, with the understanding that there is a fairly substantial span of time between the two.


End file.
